After barreling through a record the day before, the Dow Jones industrial average meandered higher on Wednesday. The DJIA edged up 42.47 points to close at 14,296.24. An encouraging job-market report helped nudge the stock market up and pushed bond prices lower. The question now is, how much longer can it keep climbing?

One of the best things about shopping online was how easy the Web made it to compare prices so you could be sure you were getting the best deals. Not anymore: Now, many companies are using your personal data to decide what prices to offer you for their products.

The battle for your holiday spending dollars is well under way, and it's not too soon to start handicapping 2012's likely winners. Some may be obvious (like Amazon), but others may surprise you. Here's how the holiday shopping season is shaking out across the retail landscape.

Every Friday, we hunt down the best deals, freebies and limited-time offers available for the coming week. Our favorites: free Doritos Locos Tacos, free portraits, big office supply discounts, and an early price cut on the Nexus 7 tablet.

It's going to be a busy week for retailers as more than a dozen publicly traded chains offer up their latest quarterly financials. But regardless of how popular a diversion shopping is, don't assume that crowded malls are translating into blowout results for major retailers.

Ready or not, it's time for back-to-school season. Like the Christmas shopping season, it seems to begin earlier every year, and you have to play the game if you want to catch the sales. Or do you? Personal finance guru Jean Chatzky has some surprising advice for parents.

There's a cola war brewing that has nothing to do with Coke or Pepsi: It's in the home-based pop market, and the fight is between SodaStream and Primo Water. But why make your own soda at home instead of buying it at the store? Is it easier? Cheaper? Healthier? You're probably going to like all three answers.

There's never a dull moment on Wall Street, especially when new tablets and old banks are in the way. Let's go over some of the items that will help shape the week ahead: The Kindle Fire, the Nook Tablet, and earnings reports from Sears, Gap, Hot Topic, Lowes Home Depot and Staples.

From Nov. 1 until Christmas, Walmart says it will match prices with its rivals retroactively. Buy now, and if anyone advertises an identical product for a better price, go back to Walmart and claim a refund for the difference. But of course there's a catch -- more than one, in fact.